I spent a fascinating day recently up on the roof with master craftsman Alan Jones learning just a little about the Welsh thatching tradition. Yes, Welsh thatching – it turns out that slate is a new fangled Victorian fad and that way back when it was straw thatch that kept the rain out. Read the

One of the best things about editing ‘Quality Wales’ for Visit Wales is the fascinating, inspiring people we get to talk to when we’re putting it together. For the latest edition that includes the very talented Will Holland at Coast, Welsh food evangelists Dai ‘Chef’ Davies and Eira Roche at Bodnant Welsh Food Centre and

It’s a real buzz to finally open the box of copies of ‘Wilder Wales’, which turned up on my doorstep today. The talented team at my publisher, Graffeg, have down a great job of taking my original idea and making it into a really handsome book.

It’s great now to have Wilder Wales as a book, rather than just a pdf. We have a publication date too, of March 2015. That means that it will have taken three years to get from proposal to bookshop. I posted the pitch to Graffeg on the way to what was a marvellous weekend in

It was always going to be a big project, but my book Wilder Wales has been a bit of a marathon effort. The proposal went to Graffeg in March 2012 and two-and-a-half years later the cover has finally been signed off ready for a publishing date next spring. Visiting the best wildlife-watching locations at a

Putting together my new walking guide to Ceredigion – which has just been published by Pocket Mountains – took lots of days out and about last year. A summer and autumn spent exploring the best of the county was a joy and it was great news too for our Jack Russell, Bella. I love the

I love the mountains to the east of Harlech – for me, it’s the most exhilarating bit of Snowdonia. Mind you I’m never entirely sure what to call them. Are they the Rhinogydd, or the Rhinogau? Or should I just plump for sticking an ‘s’ on the end to Anglicise them as the Rhinogs? By

Working with Ceredigion County Council on its ‘Paths for People’ project has been really interesting. The book of routes has now been published and FBA Group have done an excellent job. For me what makes the routes different is that they have been devised by the people who know the area best, – the local

Just back from Anglesey and the latest outing with Drew Buckley for our Wilder Wales project for Graffeg. The weather has made planning our field trips difficult, but it really came up trumps this time and I reckon we enjoyed Newborough Warren and Forest at their best. After weeks indoors it was a thrill to

Over the last nine months I’ve been working with Ceredigion’s ‘Paths for People’ project to survey routes in the county and put together guidebook. I’ve been waiting for a sunny autumn day to do the last walk (and photos) and, finally, it turned up today. It’s been a great job as the paths chosen by